91-year-old warns others over phone scams after losing life-savings

A pensioner who lost thousands of pounds to phone scammers is speaking out in the hope of preventing the same thing happening to anybody else.

Ninety one year old John Thompson from Sprotborough in South Yorkshire lost almost £15,000 after being tricked into thinking he was speaking to his bank.

Now he is warning others to be vigilant. Adam Fowler reports.

The great-grandfather has since received support from Action Fraud and South Yorkshire Police's Fraud Protect Officer Andy Foster, who spends his time raising awareness of fraud and scams across South Yorkshire

Mr Foster said: "Sadly, Mr Thompson's story is all too familiar and I have met countless victims of similar telephone scams.

"These fraudsters are professionals, using increasingly sophisticated methods to trick people out of their hard-earned money and life savings. The fact they are now able to make it look like they are calling from a local number, or the number of your bank, makes their devious schemes even more convincing.

"A legitimate bank would never contact you to ask you to transfer your money into another account. If you are in doubt, hang up the phone, leave it for a few minutes and then call your bank for advice."